League champions

On Saturday, February 14, men’s indoor track and field competed at the Liberty League Championship in Rochester, NY. Four teams took part in the event: RPI, Rochester Institute of Technology, Union College, and St. Lawrence University. The Engineers edged out their competitors by racking up a team total of 186 points, the next closest, St. Lawrence, scored 162.

On their way to a first-place finish, RPI won a total of seven individual events. Freshman Bryan Hayes sprinted to victory in the 200-meter dash, recording a top time of 23.08 seconds. In addition, he also won the triple jump competition by finishing with a spectacular distance of 13.06 meters. By winning twice, Hayes was chosen as the track performer of the meet.

In the 400-meter run, sophomore Max Drexler came away with a winning title, crossing the finish line with a time of 50.53 seconds. Then, senior Dylan Landry outraced his competitors and won the 800-meter with a time of 116.55 seconds. Junior Bobby Parker rounded out the track portion of the event for the Engineers by winning the 3000-meter race with a time of 8 minutes and 44 seconds.

In the field, junior Tyler Yeastedt won the weight throw with a top distance of 18.04 meters, while junior Aaron Clippinger soared to a winning long jump length of 6.54 meters. Yeastedt earned field event performer of the meet, honoring for his impressive shot put performance.

Three Engineer athletes also earned needed points for their team by coming in second. Senior Devan Hayes finished close behind Yeastedt in the weight throw with a final distance of 17.81 meters. He also finished second in the shot put with a length of 14.16 meters, just eight hundredths of a meter behind event winner Scott Kasson of St. Lawrence.

In the high jump, sophomore Erik Trinkle finished with a best jump of 1.88 meters, just five hundredths of a meter behind winner Jared Athias of RIT. Lastly, freshman sprinter, Devin Sullivan finished just over a second behind running mate Drexler in the 400-meter run.

Next up for men’s indoor track is a road trip to the College at Brockport on Saturday, February 21. The following weekend, the Engineers will return to Rochester to compete in the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championship.